Selenochlamys ysbryda sp nov from Wales, UK: A Testacella-like slug new to Western Europe (Stylommatophora : Trigonochlamydidae)

Rowson, B. and Symondson, William Oliver Christian ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3343-4679 2008. Selenochlamys ysbryda sp nov from Wales, UK: A Testacella-like slug new to Western Europe (Stylommatophora : Trigonochlamydidae). Journal of Conchology 39 (5) , pp. 537-552.

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Abstract

The subterranean, carnivorous slug Selenochlamys ysbryda sp. nov. is described from a breeding population in an urban garden in Cardiff, Wales, UK. The species was probably introduced recently among garden plants. Selenochlamys is a distinctive and little-known genus of the Trigonochlamydidae, a family endemic to the Caucasus and neighbouring countries, hitherto unrecorded west of Turkey. Cardiff material differs from specimens and descriptions of the sole previously recognised species S. pallida O. Boettger, 1883 in having vestigial eyes, in greater body size, in musculature, in small differences in the genitalia, and in other features. In colour and vestigial eyes, S. ysbryda resembles certain troglobitic (cave-dwelling) molluscs of the Caucasus but may simply be a deeply edaphobitic (soil-dwelling) animal. We describe the living animal and aspects of the behaviour of S. ysbryda, including the consumption of earthworms. In size, morphology and behaviour there are numerous and striking convergences between S. ysbryda and the West Palearctic genus Testacella (Testacellidae), probably indicating a similar ecology. Testacella is known to have been widely spread by man, as have several earthworm-eating terrestrial planarians. In the light of these comparisons, we speculate on whether S. ysbryda is likely to occur elsewhere undetected or spread further.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology Q Science > QL Zoology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	British Isles; Caucasus; slugs; introductions; earthworms; predation
Publisher:	The Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland
ISSN:	0022-0019
Last Modified:	18 Oct 2022 12:16
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/9179

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